Chapter 4: Slaying the Evil Demon
Looking at the crimson blood sword in his hand,
not only Nanaha, but even Kanae was stunned.
This ability to use blood as a weapon...
it was practically identical to the Blood Demon Art used by demons!
Could it be that Nanaha was actually a demon disguised as a human?
Nanaha tightened his grip on the hilt of the blood sword.
There was no physical tsuba. The hilt and blade were completely fused into one, yet the feeling in his hand was incredibly solid.
Power was feeding back from the blade into his body. Though weak, it was undeniably easing part of the burden brought by Total Concentration Breathing.
The pain in his chest had not lessened. Nanaha immediately swung the blood blade and severed the monster's hand, along with the arm that had been lodged in his chest.
The demon recovered from its initial shock and became incomparably furious.
"Damn it, damn it, damn it! To show no reverence at all and actually cut off Lord Mountain God's arm!"
"Cough!"
Nanaha dropped to one knee, nearly fainting from the pain.
Even so, he drove the blood blade into the ground and forced himself not to collapse. Slowly raising his head, he said,
"What Mountain God? You're nothing but a demon."
"Waaahhh—! To dare insult me, I'll kill you—!"
The enraged demon lunged at Nanaha.
"This may not be quite right, but it should be like this..."
Nanaha took a deep breath and kept the same stance. The next moment, he leaped up and slashed toward the demon's forehead—
"Flower Breathing, Fourth Form: Crimson Hanagoromo!"
This technique used the accumulated power of breathing to create a downward curving attack in an instant, a two-hit sword technique.
But this was Nanaha's first time using it, and he could clearly feel how unskilled he was, so it looked little different from an ordinary slash.
The moment the blood sword fell, tiny crimson sword energies like flower petals scattered through the air.
Slash—
A flash of blood-red light passed by.
"Aoooooo—!!!"
A shrill scream tore through the night sky as an entire piece of the demon's shoulder was sliced away.
The demon frantically retreated, its face filled with disbelief and terror.
"How is this possible?! My body... my flawless body was actually..."
It tried to activate its regeneration. The flesh at the wound slowly squirmed, but the newly formed tissue let out a sizzling sound the moment it touched the special blood remaining at the injury, as if it were being burned and suppressed.
"I can't regenerate?! Why, why, why—?!"
"The blood sword seems capable of suppressing a demon's regeneration to a certain extent!"
Kanae's voice carried a trace of excitement.
"Mr. Nanaha, attack its neck!"
"Got it!"
Although that strike had nearly used up all his strength and the air in his lungs had become terrifyingly thin from releasing the technique,
Nanaha still swung one final sword at the demon.
Thud—
The demon's head was completely severed and fell to the ground.
The battle was over!
No, it was still too early to conclude that!
To completely slay a demon, one had to use a Nichirin Blade forged from special materials, or wait until dawn...
Sizzle, sizzle, sizzle—
The demon let out an unwilling scream as both its head and body gradually turned into burning black smoke and slowly scattered away...
Kanae was utterly shaken inside.
The demon had actually been slain!
By Nanaha's blood!
The night returned to silence once more.
Not far away, the cowering grandfather and granddaughter had already forgotten to cry. They only stared blankly at the back of the unfamiliar boy standing in front of them, holding a sword of bloody light.
Nanaha could no longer hold on and collapsed to the ground—
"Moshi moshi~ Mr. Nanaha, are you still not awake?"
A gentle voice carrying a faint trace of anxiety softly knocked once more against the sea of his muddled consciousness.
His eyelids felt as heavy as boulders. With great difficulty, Nanaha opened a narrow slit and the first thing he saw was a rough wooden ceiling, along with the cool morning light filtering through the gaps of the paper sliding door.
"Where... am I?"
"Ara ara, Mr. Nanaha is finally awake."
Kanae's voice was full of relief, with genuine joy in it.
"You really had me worried."
"Kanae... Miss?"
Nanaha responded in his mind, his voice weak.
"How long was I unconscious? And the grandfather and granddaughter..."
"Mr. Nanaha was unconscious for a full three days," Kanae replied.
"And that old man and the little girl are both safe and sound."
Just as she said that, the sliding door was carefully pulled open a crack, and a pair of clear eyes peeked in. It was Shizuko.
When she saw that Nanaha had woken up, she softly let out an "Ah," then hurriedly turned and ran outside, shouting,
"Grandpa, our benefactor is awake!"
Nanaha tried to sit up, but his whole body felt utterly exhausted.
"P-Please don't move around."
The girl named Shizuko hurriedly helped support him up gently.
"Thank you," Nanaha said.
"No, it's us who should be thanking you. Benefactor, you saved us."
The old man had originally been sitting on the tatami, but the next moment he bowed down before Nanaha in a kneeling salute.
Shizuko followed suit and did the same.
Nanaha hurriedly tried to stop them.
"Old sir, please get up."
The old man still did not move, and Nanaha felt helpless.
A moment later, as Nanaha drank the porridge in his bowl, he had just checked his chest. To his surprise, the wound there was gradually healing.
"By the way, old sir, why were you worshipping that demon as the Mountain God?"
The old man's expression darkened, and his tone was full of helplessness.
"You may not know this, sir. Our town is called Caomang Town. Not long ago, this demon entered the town. After brutally slaughtering dozens of people, it kidnapped one person from every household. We originally wanted to go out and seek help, but the demon warned us that if we dared to leave, it would kill the hostages."
"So that's how it was."
Nanaha nodded. After all, this demon could only move at night. If the townspeople went out during the day, it would not be able to stop them.
"Have all the hostages been found?" Nanaha continued.
A trace of pain appeared on the old man's face.
"Thanks to you, they were found... but even so, some people were still harmed..."
"My condolences."
—
Nanaha stayed in Caomang Town for a week, and the wound on his chest completely healed!
Even Kanae had not expected that.
"Mr. Nanaha, this special ability of yours is just too similar to a demon's Blood Demon Art."
"Not just you, even I find it unbelievable," Nanaha said with a bitter smile.
Abnormal recovery, and the ability to use blood as a weapon.
Who would believe that if he said it out loud?
Nanaha planned to leave Caomang Town today. Before leaving, he wanted to properly walk around the town and learn about the customs and way of life in this world.
"Hehe, but Mr. Nanaha, the move you used that day was not Crimson Hanagoromo at all!"
"Miss Kanae, please stop teasing me. Also, just call me Nanaha."
"Then, Nanaha-kun, you should call me by my name too. I am Kocho Kanae."
"Alright!"
The relationship between the two became a little closer, like friends who had only recently met.
"Speaking of which, Nanaha-kun, have you ever thought about joining the Demon Slayer Corps?"
"The Demon Slayer Corps? Uh..."
To be honest, Nanaha was somewhat resistant to the idea.
After all, the Demon Slayer Corps was an extremely dangerous profession. It dealt with incredibly powerful demons. He was not stupid enough to think he was a match for those demons.
And there were also the Twelve Kizuki...
"It's alright, Nanaha-kun. You don't need to answer in a hurry. I was just shocked that you were able to grasp a breathing technique without any training," Kanae said, showing understanding.
While walking along the street, Nanaha suddenly heard crying coming from the distance.
Driven by curiosity, he followed the sound.
There, in an open area, dozens of stretchers had been laid out, each covered with a white cloth.
"This is..."
Nanaha quickly realized what it was!
These were all people who had been attacked by the demon and died before being eaten. Judging from the outlines, some of them were even dismembered corpses!
"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, it's all because I failed to protect you..."
"Wuuuu, Mom, Mom, come back—"
"I'm sorry, child. It's because your father couldn't protect you!"
The broken cries, one after another, were like icy needles stabbing into Nanaha's ears.
Kanae's voice sounded in his mind, lower and heavier than ever before, full of sorrow and weight.
"No matter how many demons we slay, the lives that have been lost can never be brought back. The battle of the Demon Slayer Corps has never been for glory, but to stop tragedies like this... from happening again and again."
Nanaha fell silent.
He had originally been very resistant to joining the Demon Slayer Corps.
Dangerous, difficult, a life where survival was never guaranteed. He was just an ordinary person who wanted to stay alive.
But at this moment, as he looked at the endless grief before him and felt the bone-deep sorrow and helplessness hanging in the air, something inside him quietly changed.
Was merely surviving... really enough?
In a world where demons ran rampant, could he truly remain safe forever by only looking after himself?
Last night it had been Caomang Town. Tomorrow it could be the next place.
Without power, when faced with a demon he could only become lamb to the slaughter like these townspeople, or else survive by sheer luck and then face the cold corpses of family and friends.
"Miss Kanae—"
"Yes?"
"I want to join the Demon Slayer Corps. Please teach me."